Chapter 6 Cultural Identity

Chapter 6 Cultural Identity • Cultural Identity • Cultural Biases • Intercultural Contact • Intercultural Communicator

Cultural Identity • Nature of Identity • Cultural identity: belonging to a particular culture or ethnic group • Ethnic Identity: generally defined on the basis of cultural criteria (customs, language) • Racial Identity: generally defined on the basis of physical criteria (skin color, facial features)

Identity Social Identity: Memberships that are particular to cultural identity Personal Identity: Activities that differ from cultural identity; Sexuality; individuality

Identity • Gender identity • Pink or Blue? • Nature or Nurture? • Brain Research: Color, texture, motion, Language • Age Identity • Infant/Child • Adolescent • Adult • Middle Age • Senior Citizen • Mixed Identity

Identity • Religious identity • Socioeconomic Identity • National/Regional Identity

Identity Development • Unexamined Cultural Identity • Cultural Identity Search • Cultural Identity Achievement

White Privilege • Normative Race Privilege • Dominant culture • Individual Identity • Guilt for being white • Perceptions of Privilege • Loss of privilege • (reading)

Ethnocentrism • The tendency people have to evaluate others according to their own standards and experience • While this tendency can help bind people together, it can also present serious obstacles to cross-cultural interactions (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Categorization is the cognitive process by which all human beings simplify their world by grouping similar stimuli Our categories give meaning to our perceptions A prototype image best characterizes the meaning of a category Example: for the category “bird,” we usually think of robins, not chickens Categorization (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Stereotypes • Stereotypes are socially constructed categories of people • They usually obscure differences within groups • They are frequently negative and play to ethnocentric ideas of “the other” (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Understanding Prejudice and Racism • Ethnocentrism leads people to believe that their own “ways” are good and “natural” • Prejudice implies a lack of thought or care in making a judgment about others • While racial and ethnic prejudice can be expressed both positively and negatively, in the United States it is most often negative (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Extreme Cases of Prejudice • Racism—the transformation of prejudicial attitudes through the use of power directed toward those one regards as inferior • Hate Groups—any organized body that denigrates select groups of people based on ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation • White Privilege—the largely unconscious acceptance by dominant groups of privileges denied to oppressed groups • Racial Profiling—law enforcement practices aimed at those who “fit” a particular profile—usually age, ethnicity, and/or race (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Acculturation and Identity • Acculturation refers to the changes that take place as a result of continuous firsthand contact between individuals of different cultures • The degree of mobility and the degree of choice in acculturating groups are both important (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Outcomes of Intercultural Contact

Cultural Adaptation • Models of Cultural Adaptation 1. The Anxiety and Uncertainty Management Model (Gudykunst, 1995): The goal of effective communication is met by reducing anxiety and uncertainty (uncertainty reduction). a. predictive uncertainty b. explanatory uncertainty

Cultural Adaptation • Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont. 2. The U-Curve theory a. Stage 1: Excitement and anticipation I b. Stage 2: Culture shock c. Stage 3: Adaptation

Cultural Adaptation • Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont. 3. The Transition Model a. Fight approach I b. Flight approach c. Flex approach

Cultural Adaptation Models of Cultural Adaptation, cont. 4. The Communication-System Model (Kim) a. Adaptation is a communicative process requiring interpersonal communication competencies

Cultural Adaptation Models of Cultural Adaptation 4. The Communication-System Model, cont. b. Process of stress, adaptation, and growth c. Frequent communication leads to more culture shock but better adaptation

Cultural Adaptation 4. The Communication-System Model, cont. d. Three options: i. Reject new idea ii. Incorporate into existing framework iii. Change framework

Cultural Adaptation 4. The Communication-System Model, cont. e. Three stages: i. Taking for granted ii. Making sense iii. Coming to understand

Cultural Adaptation • Individual Influences Several individual characteristics may influence adaptation: - age - gender - preparation - expectations

Cultural Adaptation • Context and adaptation Contextual influences on adaptation include: - receptivity of culture - status and power - class issues - discrimination - conflict between recent and long-term immigrants

Cultural Adaptation • Outcomes of adaptation - Psychological health - Functional fitness - Intercultural identity

Identity and Adaptation • Migrants develop multicultural identities based on three issues: 1. The extent to which they want to maintain their own identity, language, and way of life; 2. The extent to which they want to interact with others in the new culture; and 3. The ownership of political power.

Identity and Adaptation • Adapting on Reentry 1. When sojourners return to their original cultural contexts, they may experience reentry shock. 2. W-curve theory of adaptation 3. Differences between first and second U- curve: personal change and expectations.

Identity and Adaptation • Living on the Border 1. Transnationalism calls into question notions like nation-states, national languages, and coherent cultural communities. 2. When people frequently go back and forth between cultures, they may develop a multicultural identity.

Types of adaption • Assimilation • Integration: occurs when migrants have an interest in maintaining their original cultures and maintaining daily interactions with other groups. • Separation: • a. voluntary separation • b. segregation Seclusion Marginalization: occurs when there is little interest in maintaining cultural ties with either the dominant culture or the migrant culture.

Assimilation • Assimilation – the migrant/person wants relationships with other groups, and: • a. is welcome in the host culture • b. gives up aspects of his/her culture

Assimilation • Assimilation • c. Conflicts may arise if forced on migrants by the dominant culture. • d. discrimination over time can discourage maintenance of one's native cultural heritage.

Culture Shock • Culture shock is a relatively short-term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the unfamiliarity of surroundings or the lack of familiar cues in the environment.

Culture Shock • Most migrants experience culture shock. • People are less likely to experience culture shock if they separate themselves from the new environment.

Culture Shock • Long-term adaptation is difficult for most people, and people generally resist it in the short term. • Some people adjust to only some parts of a new culture.

Something to Think About “One of the higher callings for young people in the coming century will be working to increase intercultural understanding. Such people will be the missionaries of the age, spreading light among groups. . .by giving them a modern vision of the new global community.” —Carl Coon (c) 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Cushner/McClelland/Safford, Human Diversity in Education, 5/e

Chapter 6 Cultural Identity